The hands-on work of collecting trash, plowing streets and plugging broken waterlines is about to get a high-tech assist.

Beginning next month, new GPS units will be installed on dozens of trucks and other pieces of equipment owned and operated by the city of Lawrence for basic municipal services: collecting and disposing of solid waste, repairing and clearing public streets, and replacing and unplugging the separate pipes that carry water and sewage.

“We’re using technology to better, more efficiently deploy our resources,” said David Corliss, city manager. “That’s increasingly important when we have limited resources.”

Lawrence city commissioners voted Tuesday to spend $50,199 on the system for 2011. The total includes buying actual GPS units — 35 for trash trucks, 32 for utilities vehicles and 26 for street division trucks and equipment — and a year’s worth of monitoring service through Networkfleet Inc., based in San Diego.

The units will allow supervisors to monitor the precise locations, speeds and, in some cases, even activities of GPS-equipped vehicles and equipment. The street division’s dump trucks, for example, will have special “diagnostic” units that will sense when a snowplow is scraping ice or snow from a road surface, and when a spreader is spraying salt and sand to improve traction.

At some point, the city may make such information available to anyone with Internet access, said Chuck Soules, the city’s director of public works.

“You get up in the morning, see there’s 15 inches of snow, and you’re wondering how you’ll get to work,” Soules said. “You can open this and see which roads we’ve been on and which ones we haven’t been on.”

The units will begin arriving in January, with installation expected to be complete in the spring, he said.

Other benefits of the system, Soules said:

• Efficiency. Supervisors will be able to track trash trucks as they make their daily rounds, to see where routes could be adjusted to save time and fuel — and exactly which truck would be closest to anyone calling in a “missed” collection.

• Accountability. Supervisors hearing reports of a city truck barreling through a residential area will be able to check the claim within moments, simply by looking at a truck’s data on a computer screen.

Businesses with fleets large and small already use such technology to improve efficiency and service, Soules said, and it makes sense to extend such capabilities to appropriate municipal motor pools.

“We’re dealing with public money,” Soules said. “We have to be accountable.”

More like this story on LJWorld.com

Comments

How likely do you think that "snow plow update" system will ever work? I foresee many "technical difficulties" that will make the system slow, costly, and inefficient. Sounds great in theory, but I can't see it happening.

There's a holdup in the Bronx,
Brooklyn's broken out in fights,
There's a traffic jam in Harlem
That's backed up to Jackson Heights.
There's a Scout troop short a child,
Khrushchev's due at Idelwyld,
CAR 54, WHERE ARE YOU?

The knee-jerk complaining on these comment boards never ceases to amaze me. The public sector is decades behind the private sector in regards to using technology to increase efficiency. This is a good move.

They paint a very pretty picture, being able to jump online and get an almost up to date report of the street sweepers. That involves a long chain of people and equipment. Who will be in charge of this? Are we hiring a full time, GPS updater?

Also, this is suppose to make everyone more efficient. Who is going to be reading and interpreting this data? Can they make it more efficient, sure, but just buying the equipment is far from a solution. I'm sure this system will call for more money to make it a worthwhile investment, but I don't think anyone will want to pour more money into the system.

Maybe it is cynicism, but I see a difference between local governments and a company. I have no doubt that this system CAN be very efficient and a very positive investment. I just question how well our local government will be able to make use of it.

That's a good point Dillon. I didn't think about the cost of the full time GPS updater (not to mention the cost of ledger paper, pens, whiteout etc.)

Also a good point regarding the data interpretation as well. I mean, after the full-time GPS updater get's it all jotted down in his or her ledger, it could take a crew of 20 several weeks to make sensible graphs out of the data. And then there's even more equipment cost of rulers, protractors, and even MORE whiteout.

With all that extra cost, I can't see how the city will be able to afford the ever growing expense of food pellets for the army of gerbils who turn the wheels that keep the municipal mainframe running.

This is excellent. When this technology is in place, when it snows, I will be able to look on line and find out the plows are all out plowing west Lawrence golf course streets, instead of having to bundle up and drive out there and look for myself like I did last December..

Which city commissioner has a friend at NetworkFleet? Rather than supporting local economy by going with one of the dozens of MRM integrators and providers that uses locally developed and supported products from Garmin, the city chose to blow their money in California.

“We’re dealing with public money,” Soules said. “We have to be accountable.”

Do we have this capability yet on emergency vehicles? It would seem like that should be a priority so dispatchers can more effectively route emergency services vehicles. I'm not opposed to putting it on public utility vehicles, but I'm not convinced yet that it's worth the cost.

My first thought was, "What! Can't they read maps?" But when I thought it over, it makes good sense. Why should we pay a supervisor to spend the day tailing the minions around town, wasting gas and causing wear and tear on the supvervisors city owned cars? Also, this should help emergency response time for LPD and Fire/Med teams for new streets, which won't show up on maps for ten to fifteen months and those mystery streets that are less than a block long and tucked away.

I was skeptical about the cost of the devices, but knowing that "a year’s worth of monitoring service through Networkfleet Inc." is included in that price makes more sense. In fact, that might be a better deal than I expected. Software as a service is not cheap, especially with specialized systems such as fleet monitoring.

It would have been nice to have supported Garmin (relatively local) and their affiliates for a fleet monitoring product. I wonder if the city sent them an RFP and if so, how the bids compared.

Yes, farmers use GPS quite a bit, but in a different way. More advanced farms may use the system to find out what field the employees are in, but it's different for the average farmer. Their system is used to make efficient and complete coverage of a field. It reduces over spray, or missed patches, etc, etc. So yes they use them, but in a different vein than what these systems are being proposed.

Yes, the farmer uses GPS data to maximize coverage and minimize fuel use. I was citing farmers to show they get benefit in a very simple setting. Data from sanitation trucks can be used to make routes more efficient, track miles per ton picked up, determine if fewer trucks could be used, lots of stuff no one's even thought up yet in a much more complicated system. More data is usually better data.

A total waste of public money, a totally irresponsible action against the taxpayers, a total exposition of why our city government is completey broken, busted, dysfunctional, disassociated with reality and totally unconcerned with the true needs of the city and the public.

Throw money, City of Lawrence. Hire another out of towner. Way to go ... sure glad we raised sales tax and parking meter fees to buy this kind of stuff plus to pay for those mighty fine new vehicles the meter readers get to ride around in now.

What ever happened to building a rainy day fund with extra revenue or LOWERING sales taxes if we have so much extra money to throw around ?

Next time they talk about the NEXT " one cent " tax hike, maybe voters will think differently. "One cent" sounded so insignificant didn't it ? Call it what it really is: 1 % = $1.00 per $100, $10.00 per $1000 ... How about an extra $ 400 on that new $ 40,000 car ?

I think the city could have set up a website for snow removal, but just leave it up to the citizens. People sign in, the system saves their house location, and they can mark street condition or whether the streets have been bladed or salted. Not perfect, but multiple reports can reduce the chance of reading a false report. Heck, make an app for phones to use their GPS location to pick a selection (Impassable, bladed, salted).

Dillan,
this tech for fleet monitoring has been around for quite some time. and ref your comment about monitoring and updating is jst moot anymore. much happens by simple programming--it's automated and very very fast. plus the provider does a lot of the updating remotely as a part of the contract. so likely wouldn't need anybody employed here to be an "updater."

another benefit of this system: safety, emergency situatios. yes I know we're not talking about lpd/ldcfm. howevr in event of natural disaster/man-caused event you can just look at the board and you know immediately where your people and resources are to direct them.

Big Brother will be watching you guys soon. Better not stop for donuts.

---well now, locations of donut food stuffs providers are certainly very very high on the priority list for clearing, right?

I think this is smart. It is one of the many tools modern freight movers use for their fleet. Also in a disaster it can make a difference. Sadly if someone steals a garbage truck for a quick get away we can nab them before they disappear in the traffic.

Yes I was joking about the fast get away. But gps would help if some yahoo did steal a vehicle. I wasn't joking about how the trucks should be on gps. Routes, collections, disaster reaction, efficiency, can be helped by smart use of gps.
I am against privatizing the system. I am for changing, updating some of the management procedures. I am not for scrapping all the past investments in our waste management. People don't think of the waste management system as part of the emergency response system but it is crucial part. I am against privatizing it. Imagine the difference in clean up after a tornado when the city or the homeowners have to renegotiate for emergency collection with a low bid firm out for the fast buck.

Core-less is hired and managed by the city "commission". The "commission" is responsible for his performance audit. The city mangler directs the actions of the city "commission". The city "commsiion" dances to the tune that the city mangler calls. Does anyone with a shred of common sense see how this arrangement results in this sort of crap??

Core-less is hired and managed by the city "commission". The "commission" is responsible for his performance audit. The city mangler directs the actions of the city "commission". The city "commsiion" dances to the tune that the city mangler calls. Does anyone with a shred of common sense see how this arrangement results in this sort of crap??

Why are we spending money to get the sanitation employees off work sooner than they get off now? Remember the report that showed several employees don't work 40 hour workweeks now but still get 40 hours of pay? I just don't get it!

you're welcome Dillan.
if used properly, I think this tech has the potential to pay for itself and then some.

lol:
"officer, it was a big, slow, stinky garbage truck with city of lawrence all over it. the joy riding teen was speeding at 35mph going ... that'a way! she had a stogie hanging from her lip, two rose tattoos on her arms, sleeves rolled up, ... hope you can catch her!"

"sorry sir, she'll just melt right in with lawrence's traffic. there's no hope in trying to catch this one even if we had our own chopper!"

“We’re using technology to better, more efficiently deploy our resources,” said David Corliss, city manager. “That’s increasingly important when we have limited resources.”

Resolution X8: Approve 2007 Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) to City of Lawrence in the Amount of $83,659.12.
The LDCHA’s annual payment in lieu of taxes for 2007 is in the amount of $83,659.12. As a tax-exempt organization, the housing authority makes an annual payment to the City in exchange for public services and facilities furnished from time-to-time by the City. The amount of the PILOT is set by federal regulation and is equal to 10% of the housing authority’s rental income minus the utility costs paid by the housing authority. Rental income for 2007 was $1,116,289. Utility expenses were $279,698.67. Rent minus utilities equals $836,591.23. Ten percent, $83,659.12 is the 2007 PILOT payment to the City. If the LDCHA was a taxable entity the amount of property taxes would be $157,500.55.
Commissioner Clark moved to approve the 2007 PILOT payment to the City. [SOURCE: MINUTES OF THE 2008 ANNUAL MEETING OF THE LAWRENCE-DOUGLAS COUNTY HOUSING AUTHORITY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS April 28, 2008]

It costs $50,000 for the units. Here are some questions that a good journalist should also have put in the story.

How much is the monthly service fee

What percentage of time does the city estimate is wasted by loafing employees

What is the cost to the city of loafing employees

What is the cost for each GPS unit

That way, the readers can discern the actual value of this project.

Because this information is not listed in the story I have to assume. I assume the answer to #1 is quite a bit more than you would think because I doubt this California business makes much money flying out to cities to install a couple of GPS units. I assume the answer to #2 and #3 are something the city hasn't really thought about beyond the sales pitch of the company, so I seriously doubt if the city put a whole lot of thought into this scheme.

seeker of truth, I've had a profitable business for over 10 years and I've employed numerous people. Jealousy is so ugly. Anyway, are you a city employee? You sure seem offended that someone would think that you might loaf. I was just reading between the lines in the story. Did you read the story? The city thinks GPS tracking will reduce costs. I mean Lawrence isn't really big enough to get lost in, now is it. Maybe that's it. I don't know. I just doubt that Lawrence will see a huge cost savings by keeping employees from getting lost, so loafing seems like a plausible interpretation.